The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Séance: Technology of the Spirit
Opening on 26 August 2025, The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Séance: Technology of the Spirit begins with a question: what role has spiritual experience played in the development of modern and contemporary art? Over the past decade, it has been impossible to ignore the number of artists turning for inspiration to alternative forms of knowledge. The mystic, visionary, or arcane—often as enshrined in suppressed cultural traditions—has come to occupy a central place in the artistic discourse. This renewed interest in spiritual practice seems to us to respond to a broader crisis in how we make sense of the world. This Biennale is a space for spiritual encounter, for perceptual expansion, for dreamlike communion. A space for exceptional works of art to speak, summon, and transform.
The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Séance: Technology of the Spirit exhibition opens at Seoul Museum of Art and NAKWON SANGGA, and a screening program takes its place at Cinematheque Seoul Art Cinema every Saturday.
Seoul Museum of Art
61, Deoksugung-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Location
Subway Lines 1 & 2. City Hall Station. Exits 10, 11, 12
Buses 172, 472, 600, 602, 7019. City Hall & Seosomun Government Complex Stop
Due to limited parking we recommend public transportation.
Tue-Thur 10.00-20.00
Fri 10.00-21.00
Weekends & Holidays
— August-October 10.00–19.00
— November 10.00–18.00
Closed on Mondays
Free Admission
Open on Chuseok Holidays (10.3~12).
NAKWON SANGGA No. 325, 339, 412
428 Samil-daero, Jongro-gu, Seoul
Location
Subway Lines 1, 3 & 5. Jongno 3-ga Station. Exit 5
Tue-Thur 10.00-20.00
Fri 10.00-21.00
Weekends & Holidays 10.00–19.00
Closed on Mondays
Free Admission
Closed partly on Chuseok Holidays (10.5~7).
Cinematheque Seoul Art Cinema
22-7 Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul
Location
Subway Line 5. Seodaemun Station. Exit 5
Every Saturday 13.00-
Ticket
Adults 9,000 KRW, Group (more than 20 people) 7,000 KRW, Under 18/Seniors/Disabled 6,000 KRW, Members 5,000 KRW (1 Year Membership 60,000 KRW), 10 admission pass 80,000 KRW
Artistic Directors
Anton Vidokle is an artist, filmmaker, and the founder of e-flux. He has worked and exhibited in South Korea numerous times, including two editions of Gwangju Biennale, where he won the Noon Award in 2016, as well as a solo show at MMCA in 2019 and other exhibitions, lectures, and projects.
Hallie Ayres is a curator, researcher, and art historian who has published texts and delivered lectures on the reconciliation of indigenous and Western knowledge production through spiritual belief systems, among many other topics.
Lukas Brasiskis, a PhD scholar and film curator, is devoted to artists’ and experimental film. In his curatorial and academic work, he often explores the limits and potentials of moving image media to present more-than-human perspectives, a topic he discussed in his essay for Art Contemplating Crisis, MMCA Studies’ special edition in 2020, among other writings.
- Art House Henry Beguelin‚ Seoul; Blindspot Gallery‚ Hong Kong; Center for Visual Music‚ Los Angeles; Corita Kent Foundation‚ New York; Dia Art Foundation‚ New York; Emma Kunz Stiftung‚ Würenlos; Firestorm Foundation‚ Stockholm; Jan Mot‚ Brussels; Jeonnam Museum of Art‚ Gwangyang;
- the artists
- Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts‚ Los Angeles; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art‚ Gwacheon; Oomoto Foundation‚ Kameoka; P·P·O·W‚ New York; Private Collector‚ Seoul; Re:Voir‚ Paris; Rudolf Steiner Archiv‚ Dornach; TINA Gallery‚ London; Victorian Spiritualists’ Union Inc‚ North Melbourne
